Kathmandu: In the past weeks, Nepal saw tens of thousands of youth taking to the streets, demanding jobs, dignity and an end to corruption. For many, it felt like the dawn of a “new Nepal”. Yet beneath the anger of this uprising is a much older, rigid and unalterable social order, one that continues to shape politics, society, and economics in Nepal: caste.

Nepal’s caste system is centuries old. The Muluki Ain , or the National Code of 1854, codified a rigid hierarchy, placing Bahuns (Brahmins) and Chhetris (warriors) at the top, Dalits at the bottom, and the indigenous Tibeto-Burman groups in the middle.

Madhesis in the southern plains were largely ignored in the legal framework. Show Full Article

Over generations, this system became deeply entwined with political power. Nepal’s

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